Zari was the first to carve her name in the history books after being appointed as the Second Referee of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021 Asian Playoff tie between Vietnam and Lebanon on Sunday, with Nazemi selected for the same position in the return leg on Tuesday, which saw the Southeast Asians clinch their spot for the global futsal showpiece.

Led by Chairperson His Excellency (HE) Du Zhaocai, the committee members recognised the need to continuously enhance the foundations for AFC MAs through the new criteria and also paid tribute to the Continent’s match officials for their role in the successful and safe staging of the AFC Champions League (West) Group Stage.

After the VAR’s debut in the last edition of the AFC Champions League, which was the first in AFC Club Competitions history, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will continue to set new benchmarks in Asian refereeing by adding the system in the AFC Cup Final.

Faghani, who has officiated in the FIFA World Cup, AFC Asian Cup and AFC Champions League, are joined by other coaches including FIFA Women’s World Cup referee Qin Liang of China PR and AFC Elite Referee Instructors Vladislav Tseytlin of Uzbekistan and Awni Hassouneh of Jordan in the remote education initiative that provides AFC Member Associations (MAs) with exclusive and customisable refereeing resources.

Available to all 47 AFC MAs, the AFC Refereeing STAR Programme aims to provide match officials with a range of unique courses to be delivered online, which will enable the AFC to enhance the delivery of its education programmes by embracing the latest technological advances.

From their own domestic competitions to the AFC Champions League, the Continent’s match officials have shown diligence and professionalism and played a key role in keeping the game alive during the most difficult of circumstances.

During the closing stages of the ongoing AFC Champions League in Doha, AFC Referees Committee Deputy Chairperson, Hany Taleb Ballan Al Raeesi joined us to share his thoughts on the competition, VAR and how Asia’s refereeing fraternity has navigated a year of unprecedented challenges.

Together with assistants and compatriots, Ramzan Saeed M A Al-Naemi and Saoud Ahmed S A Almaqaleh, the trio will be supported by Video Assistant Referee (VAR), Khamis Mohammed S A Al-Marri from Qatar, who will oversee the implementation of the VAR system in the final of an AFC Club Competition for the first time.